“Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort makes all the difference.”
Last week I reached out to a few subscribers to see what they were struggling with and/or wanted me to write about.
A common question was, "What's the best type of exercise for _____?"
...avoiding back pain.
...increasing metabolism.
...building strength.
...losing fat.
And a common struggle was, losing the "Quarantine 19".
So, I figured that this week I'd kill two birds and write about the best type of exercise for fat loss.
Get out your pens and paper and prepare to take notes, because I'm about to drop some serious golden nuggets of wisdom here.
Are you ready???
The best exercise for fat loss is...
Pretty much anything.
...for a little while.
And then,
...it depends.
You see, when it comes to fat loss, any type of exercise will work in the beginning.
It doesn't matter if it's Zumba, CrossFit or Prancercise, as long as it's new...
And as long as you aren't already good at it.
But as time passes and you continue doing that thing, well...you're going to get better at it.
Which, from an athletic or skills perspective, is a good thing.
From a fat loss perspective...not so much.
Because for fat loss, exercise needs to be as inefficient as possible.
And inefficient exercise is going to look different for everyone.
If you want to lose weight and you want to use exercise to assist with that process, then you need to find stuff you aren't good at.
Horrible swimmer? ➡ Get in the water.
Suck at running? ➡ Lace up your sneakers
Never ridden a bike before? ➡ Remove those training wheels
But understand that the more you do a particular thing, the more efficient at doing that thing you will become.
And the more efficient you are, the less energy (ie. calories) your body will use in order to do that thing.
Since fat loss boils down to expending more energy than you take in... In order to continue losing weight you will need to: 👉 Add MORE of that thing (swim/bike/run further) or, 👉 Work HARDER while doing that thing (go faster, lift heavier, rest less) or, 👉 Find a DIFFERENT thing to do (one that you are terrible at). But no matter what, you'll need to continue finding ways of expending a lot of energy. You'll need to push, hard. It will probably suck quite a bit. And you will have to find a way to continue doing things that you aren't good at. Now I don't know about you, but constantly doing things I'm terrible at doesn't make me feel so great. Neither does being doubled over, gasping for air, after every workout. Which is one reason consistent fat loss is so elusive for most people. And a reason why using exercise as your primary tool for fat loss, well...kind of sucks. On one hand, pushing through physical discomfort can be valuable for building mental toughness, resiliency and grit. But it can also be extremely tough on your body, particularly if you are starting off with quite a bit of excess body weight or are under large amounts of life stress (which is like, basically everyone right now). It can also be a challenge to muster up the motivation or willpower to make it happen. When you're already exhausted, stressed out and overwhelmed the thought doing 500 burpees might not be very enticing (honestly, that's probably never very enticing 🤮). And if you are dreading your exercise, how often do you think you'll actually get it done? 🤔 So here's the thing, inefficient and intense exercise CAN assist with fat loss. But, it's not necessary ALL the time or even MOST of the time. If you really want to lose fat AND do it in a way that doesn't have you hobbling out of the gym after every session and buying Tiger Balm in bulk, then:
Chose to participate in exercise that you ENJOY and that is engaging.
Do something that challenges, not crushes, you.
Practice skills and strive towards mastery.
👉 Because getting better at stuff FEELS GOOD.
Not only does getting better at stuff make you feel good about the stuff you are getting better at doing,
👉 It also makes you feel MORE CAPABLE of doing other stuff.
...like making changes to your nutrition, lifestyle and mindset habits.
The stuff that will contribute much more towards fat loss than doing a Tabata workout once a week. 🤷🏼♀️
And unlike exercise, as you get MORE efficient with these habits, you will get MORE benefit from them.
So, if you are going to put in the effort towards losing fat, make sure you are directing it in the right areas.
Exercise doesn't need to be miserable.
But if it's the only weight loss tool you're going to use, then you better make it suck a little bit.
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